An Improvement in Form
by CombatJorts
Summary: Weiss has been having trouble keeping up physically with her teammates. Before training competently with each other, they must learn how to not get in each other's way. With all the challenges that working in a group poses, admitting to others that she needs self-improvement might be Weiss' biggest struggle. Being her partner, Ruby wants to help. [Cannon w/minor liberties taken]
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the second fic! This one has a bit of a set up, and will be longer, but not too long I hope. Right now, the chapters will be short as we start school and manage our time around life. I wanted to let out some of the ideas and contemplations I had about Weiss in particular, and get some practice writing for her. It will get fluffy later, don't worry.  
**

**-L**

**/**

It was four-o-clock, the end to the school day at Beacon Academy. Students drifted back to their dorm rooms, lounged with their team members in the halls, and milled around before the dinner bell would ring in about two hours. With a light sigh, Weiss Schnee strolled through the winding hallways of the prestigious boarding school, her bag slung over her shoulder and a furrowed brow pushing her expression down. Things had been drastically changing all over the place for the young Heiress. Not just in the past couple of days, but in the recent weeks, and even back to the beginning when she had first made the decision to enroll and become a huntress-in-training. Right now, Weiss has been excelling through school only by her sheer determination and excellent study habits. When she came to Beacon academy, one of the most renowned schools for young hunters and huntresses, she had somewhat of an idea of what she wanted to accomplish. Leave the life of a picture-perfect legacy behind, leave her family and its complications to become something she could do for herself: train to be a cleanser of evil. A huntress. She was already well-learned, already much more informed about the state of the world in it's political and economic turmoil than most her age, and she had quickly studied her way up through the class average and had come out in the leading percentile of the entire year's grade roster. But, and this was what had been on her mind as of late, her combat practice and coordination was falling behind. As her teammates continued to improve and excel, she struggled to keep up with their physical prowess. She could keep up matching strikes with everyone else, but she became winded when running for too long, and her semblance took more out of her than any of her teammates had theirs effect them. Her training in the physical realm was backed only by a few years of formal fencing and other private club sports on her estate like tennis and swimming. She knew to herself, but would never admit it to anyone else of course, that she was probably the most out of shape in the entire team. Hitching her back higher onto her shoulder, she mused to herself as she made a turn for the library.

Yang was undoubtedly the most energetic and physically savvy of them all, easily learning new stances and moves, adapting quickly to any formation they trained to learn. Blake took everything in stride, and though she was quicker than Yang, the blonde would always take the cake in stamina and tenacity. And then… well, now that she thought about it, Ruby seemed like she was struggling as well. Whenever the four of them practiced maneuvers and battle tactics, whenever Ruby had to insert herself into the pattern of the team, the caped scythe wielder seemed to have a knack for exploding off into her own direction. She would hold the pattern with the rest of them for a while, but as soon as something came at them she immediately dodged and averted, breaking rank and either came crashing near someone else or swinging madly around the arena with her speed and that huge cumbersome weapon of hers. Weiss couldn't understand one, how the younger girl could even wield something that mismatched to her size, and two, how she kept it from flinging her off-balance and flailing about. As the heiress picked up a couple of books from the nearest shelf on battle tactics, she thought perhaps it was just that the youngest of them wasn't as used to coordinating with other people, inside and out of the arena. Yang was a socialite, Blake had been in and out of meetings and rallies with both like-minded and opposing persons, and even Weiss had learned how to present herself properly in public, at business meetings, guest dinners, and the like. But that girl… that young brash and over-eager leader of their team… She didn't seem to have had much time to learn how to just _be with_ other people at all.

Besides her sister of course, and as Weiss had noticed, Ruby did turn to Yang whenever there was a problem or something didn't quite go right. The caring sisterly dynamic between the two was immense, and at sometimes overwhelming. Weiss had seen her own feelings of envy and sadness reflected in the eyes of their faunus teammate whenever the two sisters would work on something, Yang guiding Ruby with gentle kindness, and a firm, yet calm direction. Weiss could see it in Blake's face, the appreciative smile, but the downcast eyes that couldn't keep hold of the scene for long. Neither of them, as Weiss knew so far, had any siblings. The only people that have taken care of Weiss were servants, tutors, teachers and herself. Even the kindest and most patient of those were impermanent, temporary, and always kept their distance. Until coming to Beacon, Weiss had never needed to speak for herself. A part of that was thrilling, empowering, a part of her pride, but it was also terrifying, unsettling and made her constantly anxious. Even after the few weeks spent as a team, learning, training, and fighting alongside each other, they all had a long way to go when it came to moving as a team. Weiss looked down at the two books in her hands: _Combat Coordination: Direction for Orienting Teams in Battle Scenarios_ and _Group Communication: An Overview_. Her brow furrowed deeper, and she brought them up to the checkout desk.

These type of thoughts took up most of the heiress' time that was not spent studying or in lecture. In the moments of quiet, between classes and even during sparring, her mind was in constant flux over her place as a huntress, and her place as a friend. Even the word 'friend' itself seemed odd when it came into her mind. It seemed to her, that it was always other people who were allowed friends. Or rather, others were allowed to keep them. Nearly every friend of the family she had ever encountered had been a subject of unease, and no matter how many pleasant hours were spent in their company, there was always that underlying anxiety in the wake of a threat. The ties with her family company made it so that anyone involved with the Schnee name was put on a list as a target. She had grown accustomed to expecting the worst of every relationship she made, and in doing so, compensated by dominating the discourse. Demanding excellence of others, or snuffing them out when they didn't shape up to those standards she had set for herself in her head.

Walking back through the emptying hallways, the heiress remembered back to the first full day they had had at Beacon, where she had met Phyrra for the first time in the flesh. It was the only real conversation she had initiated that didn't circulate around affirming or denying her place, stature or identity. The role model of a huntress-in-training was someone Weiss respected and judged as a powerful figure, and at the time she had only wanted to use that power to further her own goals. Looking back on that encounter, at her politely veiled attempt to forge a bond with who she thought of only as a tool to perform, Weiss felt a low, sickening regret in her stomach. She had been regretting a lot of things she said to others. Hefting her bag again as she approached the dormitory wing, she thought of every single sentence she had uttered to someone else, and each one said to her teammates, she thought twice over. Even if her outward expression remained sharp and critical to those under it's subjugation, the person she was most critical of was herself.

It was precisely this feeling that drove Weiss to step across the dorm room and approach Yang, who had been sitting at the desk she and Blake shared, attempting to wade through her mess of loose papers that served as notes. Neither Blake nor Ruby were to be seen, and Weiss suspected that the youngest of them was hanging back after lecture, asking professor Oobleck more about the history of the faunus. Lately, Ruby had been putting in the extra effort to learn more about the world around her, especially the peoples and places currently relevant to her life. Blake might be with her, listening in on the teacher's information, but also probably to make sure Ruby didn't stay too late. In the oddly quiet dorm room, both Weiss and Yang were still dressed in their school uniforms. Even after a day full with hours of history lectures and research seminars, not to mention the sparring training or the elective courses, Weiss had the sense and poise to make sure she kept her outfit clean and tidy. She hadn't grown up as a representative of the largest dust corporation in the world for nothing! In high contrast, Yang had untucked her blouse, untied her tie and let the brown and golden trimmed blazer crumple into a pile at the foot of her bed the minute she had returned. The usually bouncy blonde sat with her legs criss-crossed in the wooden chair, in no manner appropriate for the short skirt of the uniform, and was leaning over heavily onto the desk, groaning away at every complicated formula or specific date. Weiss hesitated a few feet away, then approached with her arms held behind her back. She coughed a sharp, yet reserved _ahem_, and Yang looked up from her book.

"Oh! Hey Weiss." She greeted the heiress, the frustrated frown on her lips turning into an open smile. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing, really…" Weiss trailed off, her mind flitting between methods of approaching the subject, shifting her weight from side to side. "I guess I wanted to pose a question to you about something. Are you terribly busy right now?" Yang noticed the odd, subdued emotion behind the heiress' words, coming from the girl who was usually so demanding and outspoken. Turning in her chair and draping an arm around the back, Yang set her pencil down and gave the white haired girl her full attention.

"Not anymore. What's on your mind?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Wow, I can't believe more than 10 people actually read this (or at least opened the web page!) Sorry it hasn't been updated yet, it's the second week of classes here in uni and we both have a lot of homework. L has been going through some other issues, so fics have been on the backburner. But within the next two weeks or so there should be another chapter of this up! We've gotten a lot of encouragement from the RWBY fandom in general, the two of us, and that keeps us motivated and thinking about what to do next!**

**-L**

Weiss cleared her throat again, pulling her thoughts together in the same way one tidies one's evening gown before going out on the floor of the party.

"I wanted to ask your advice on something. And you, being," she gestured with a low wave of the wrist to Yang, "well, _yourself,_ might know more about this than the others." Weiss paused for a moment, as if unsure about if she wanted to really be asking for help with this, but she quickly humbled herself before continuing on. "Do you have any advice for someone who needs to… To improve their combat skills? Seeing as how you're well-versed in handling both the coordination and the strenuous physical activity that comes with-"

"Woah, woah, is the princess really doing what I think she's doing?" Yang interjected rather rudely, finally unable to contain whatever had been bubbling behind that awed, slowly turned excited expression. Weiss faltered mid-statement. "Now THIS is far more exciting than any _thrilling_ description of history in our dusty old textbooks, this is _real_ news!"

"Oh shush!" the white-haired girl retorted, immediately exasperated she had attempted to pander to Yang's strengths at all. The flattery was lost on the fiery blonde, or so the heiress assumed. In reality, Yang was impressed with the little lady's humility, and although she would continue to tease her for some time about it, and had already been thinking of ways to improve the team camaraderie through joint training or study sessions or something of the sort. But for now, Yang simply giggled and apologized, urging the heiress to continue.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that… Well, that was so unexpected." Yang's giggles died down as Weiss crossed her arms in defiance, puffing her cheeks, no doubt holding back some reprimanding phrase. Yang sat up and tucked her wrists between her shins. "Ah, Combat skills you say? Well, that depends on what kind of combat skill you want to improve!" Weiss thought about it for a good minute or so, small 'Well's and 'Let's see's leaking out from her pursed lips as she focused long and hard on finding the right way to express her short-comings. This was not an easy task for the young huntress-in-training.

"I suppose… Well… It seem… It seems I am not as well endowed with the same level of unreasonable stubbornness that you possess, bu-" she groaned and shook her head, catching herself mid-mistake as she corrected the demeaning phrase. "What I mean is, I don't…" here she pulled the bite out of her voice, opening up to that lower quieter tone, the same one she used when admitting her want for bunk-beds as a kid. The bite left her tone and was replaced with sincerity. "I don't seem to have… the stamina that you and the rest of the team share. I need to improve that, and I thought I should ask one of my teammates first." Only after speaking the words did Weiss notice the weight that was tense around her collarbone seem to lift away. With it, her cheeks flushed slightly, the sheer thought of admitting a weakness aloud to another person inciting embarrassment and a hint of shame. But she had to do it, she knew, otherwise the team would be at risk. In order to be a better person, she had to admit when she needed to improve. And this was the whole point of coming to Beacon, right? To be a better person than her father? To do some real good instead of sitting behind a desk, watching numbers scroll past screens and listen to statistic reports? To fight against the _real_ darkness? One cannot fight true darkness alone, because everyone has a part of it inside themselves and it would consume them. We need others to carry us through each other's darkness. How was she going to find a way to do that when she didn't know if she could carry herself?

Weiss let the familiar questioning of her own decisions roll itself over her mind, coming back as always to the wavering drive behind every choice she made. This went on for a time as Yang sat, slightly in shock, but then with a serious focus, cupping her chin in her hand and leaning over her knee, brain working through possible things she could do to help her team member. The two pondered in silence, a rare moment for any pair of team RWBY besides Blake and Weiss, who normally studied quietly together. The heiress almost didn't notice when Yang stood up out of her chair and crossed the two steps right in front of her.

**/**

**I'm sorry! That's all I can put up tonight, I've been meaning to write it but just have had way too much stuff happen that takes priority attention! Over this weekend expect more of this chapter and maybe the next! -L**


End file.
